Readers Write: Refugees, NOAA cuts, Lunds & Byerlys closure

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Nearly 50 years ago, my home church in San Diego welcomed the first of two Vietnamese families fleeing their war-torn country. They were in urgent need of housing, and my single mother — her nest newly empty — raised her hand without hesitation. Less than two weeks later, she and our church embraced the Phong family. Neither spoke the other’s language, but compassion and care transcended words. What began as an act of hospitality became a lifelong bond — one my 96-year-old mother still treasures today.

That experience shaped me profoundly. Hearing the horrors of the Phongs' homeland being overtaken by Communists and witnessing the blessing of a nation that opened its arms changed me. The teachings of my home church — “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35) — were not just words; they were a way of life.

Now, that welcoming spirit is under attack. President Donald Trump’s plan to revoke the citizenship of Ukrainians who sought refuge in our country is both heartless and a betrayal of our word. In 1994, Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal under the Budapest Memorandum, receiving assurances from the U.S., the U.K. and Russia to respect its sovereignty. Russia’s 2022 invasion shattered that promise, displacing millions. Ukrainians who found safety here did so believing America keeps its commitments. Now, the revocation of humanitarian parole and Temporary Protected Status threatens their legal standing, forcing them into uncertainty and contradicting our national values. This is not strength — it is fear-driven cruelty.

We must resist this. We must demand leadership that sees the humanity in those seeking safety, just as my mother did all those years ago. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” (Hebrews 13:2). We were created for something greater. It’s time we started acting like it.

Timothy Johnson, Delano, Minn.

We are a group of caring, private citizens who volunteer as sponsors in a legal, federal refugee resettlement program called Welcome Corps. We were vetted through background checks and required to do training to prepare ourselves for the task of welcoming and walking beside newcomers fleeing crisis as they begin new lives in this country, in safety and dignity.

Sponsored refugees are also vetted through a lengthy process of background checks, in-depth interviews and medical exams. This careful deliberation aligns Welcome Corps with national security concerns about safe and orderly immigration. We fundraise to support the refugees we sponsor and have found many Americans are eager to contribute — with great generosity — to ensure newcomers have the essential resources they need when they arrive in the United States.

Sponsorship has a profound impact on sponsors and refugees alike. It forges relationships and tight-knit communities, strengthens our nation’s economy and social fabric and demonstrates the good old American values of humanity and welcoming the stranger. As sponsors, we have felt such pride in helping people leave unimaginable difficulty for the promise of a better future in the United States.

Welcome Corps was suspended by executive order on Jan. 20. We are determined to speak up for refugees and invite Americans of all backgrounds to join us in contacting their federal representatives to ask them to reinstate this valuable, bipartisan program.

Mona Askalani, Faisal Khan, Steve Kron, Christene Sirois Kron, Christine Stevens-van Eijsden and John Stevens

The March 12 article “Another 1000 weather jobs to be cut” states that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be down by a quarter of its employees after the latest round of cuts. This federal agency provides most of the data for weather forecasts. It also issues warnings of blizzards, thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods and hurricanes. Such a massive downsizing will seriously affect our ability to anticipate and prepare for hazardous weather events.

Those of us of a certain age can still remember the days of much poorer forecasts. Do we wish to go back to those “good old days” where, for example, local tornado warnings were much less accurate? Responding to this threat, over 2,500 scientists and experts, including me, recently signed an open letter to Congress and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick calling for full funding of NOAA to protect its role as a premier source of weather and climate data and research (tinyurl.com/noaa-letter).

As your article states, a former NOAA administrator said that these actions are “the first step toward eradication.” Indeed, Project 2025’s report, which guides many of the administration’s policies, explicitly calls for dismantlement of NOAA. Some of its functions might be moved to the private sector, where accessing weather and climate data could become more challenging and costly. Also, corporations would probably not invest in the kind of research that has continually upgraded our capabilities to forecast the weather.

I sincerely hope that Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who sits on the committee overseeing NOAA, will work hard to support this crucial agency.

Joel Weisberg, Northfield

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Growing up in Minnesota, I loved our cold, snowy winters. There’s something magical about the world quietly covered in snow. Yet this weather can also be dangerous, and I learned the importance of knowing the weather forecast so we can plan ahead for when ice and snowstorms and coming. Weather forecasts — provided for free by NOAA — can mean the difference between life and death in a state like Minnesota, which regularly experiences extreme weather.

The Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency have explicitly called for the dismantling of NOAA and privatizing weather forecasting in the United States.

Whether we realize it or not, we all depend on NOAA in our daily lives. Without NOAA there are no daily weather forecasts, including winter storm alerts. What happens if an ice storm is going to hit the Twin Cities but the only people who know about it are those who can afford to pay for privatized weather notifications? Will we even know that it’s coming without the monitoring systems NOAA currently has in place?

Klobuchar sits on the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees NOAA. NOAA provides not only weather alerts, but crucial data on clean water management, sustainable fisheries and climate change.

I urge Klobuchar to do everything in her power to protect NOAA.

Lane M. Atmore, British Columbia, Canada

I am very disappointed that the Lunds & Byerlys in downtown St. Paul, a place I have frequented since I moved to downtown in 2021, is closing (“Lunds departure to leave a void in St. Paul,” March 10). I became even more disappointed when curiosity got the better of me and, after searching around on Google Maps, I learned that after the Lunds & Byerlys closes later this month, downtown St. Paul will be one of the only large downtown areas in the Midwest without a grocery store. I am more than aware the pandemic has been hard on downtown St. Paul, but this is another huge blow to any potential progress to turn my new home around. Mayor Melvin Carter and Councilwoman Rebecca Noecker, please make getting a new grocery store to open in downtown St. Paul a policy priority.